Generic Touring Thread

Over budget, pale purple, probably not your size, But nice! And the rest is there.

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b17s143p2984/SPA-CYCLES-Steel-Tourer-Frame-and-forks-

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/bikes

http://www.hewittcycles.co.uk/bikes-2/frames-custom-built-bikes-3/touring-69/hewitt-71

Any good?

Ah, missed that bit. I like the look of the Fog Cutter but that is for disc brakes.

Trek 520? Comes as a frameset

Suggestions on comfortable not super minimalist sleeping mat, comfort > size/weight.

Normally available on Gumtree for nowt ;)

Sea to summit ultralight insulated is pretty comfortable, or if you want more comfort and happy to go bigger then the thermarest trail pro is good.

I get confused with the Exped stuff as they do medium/long/wide etc. but I have the winter version and a friend has the regular version. I find mine very comfortable and he was really happy with his on the Divide.

I don't know which length/width either of us have but the winter is about the size of a rab ascent and the regular version is about a can of Relentless/Monster etc.

Having said all that the price of them seems to have more than doubled since I bought one...

Thanks all, will check those options.

Just did 3000km of touring both on and off road with Salsa Cowchipper, incredibily comfortable and stable given the width, which was what I needed due to my preference to overload the front of the bike

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looks good :)
I've got some on one midge bars from the forum to try - even wider!

Crazy how it's already been over a year since my last post; my first tour.

Of course I had to go again this year, although my time was somewhat more limited. This time I went for 11 days, and did a loop through (part of) Germany, returning via Belgium. Totaling almost 1100k in 11 days with one rest day.

The route:

The bike:

(Click for PedalRoom)

Pretty much unchanged from last year. Biggest difference are the tyres; I swapped out the Schwalbe Big Apples for some knobby Maxxis Ikon 2.2" MTB tyres. This turned out to be a very good decision, because of the increased unpaved paths I took. Especially the uphill gravel/rocky sections in the rain required grippy tyres, or otherwise I would've spun my rear wheel a lot:

Also fitted a larger cassette at the back (11-32T), which coupled with the small granny chainring (30T) provided a much need spinny gear (which I used A LOT, sometimes even wished I had another gear):

Oh yeah, and I went for clipless this time.

I felt like this tour was quite a bit tougher than last year's one through France, even though it was only half the time and distance. The hills in das Ruhrgebiet gave me a proper challenge though, and there was a lot more gravel/off road kind of riding, which made it harder.

Germany pleasantly surprised me with its beauty, friendly people and nice campsites. Some pictures of along the way, cause I've orated for long enough by now:

Looks amazing - how'd the weather treat you over that time?

Also - which Ortliebs are they? Can't work out a size because of the 26" wheels!

how'd the weather treat you over that time?

It wasn't that bad, I really can't complain. France last year was glorious, but I think I got 2/3 rain days maybe. Never had to set up or pack up in the pouring rain, so that's a huge plus. Still got plenty of sun and nice weather riding days.

which Ortliebs are they?

They are the Ortlieb Back-Roller Classics! 20L. I'm very cheeky and use them on the front, hope Ortlieb don't mind.

looks lovely. that's the kind of bike I like - uncomplainingly takes you everywhere.

Hi all,
I can't find an actual rear rack thread so thought this was the next best place.

I urgently need a rear rack with a mounting hole to platform height of c. 320mm.

Any one got recommendations for adjustable racks that go this small?

Cheers

Hebie 125?

Has anyone toured Spain in the Winter ? - considering the south for a long tour.

I've been touring in Andalucia (2 weeks in January).

Would you do it again - didya get wet/cold ?

Has anyone on here done any long touring in South America?

Have a look on the SJS site, the owner has done several and put the information in news letters. One of them was bonkers they crossed the Andie's about 8 times in 3 months

Can’t find it, can you share a link? Otherwise I’ll just email them.
Bikepacking.com has several routes, but all rather disconnected

It was a previous issue of this:

http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/thorn_mega_brochure.pdf

not the same as the one I read but lots of useful information

Next summer is looking like:

Montenegro > Albania > Kosovo > Serbia > Bulgaria

Has anyone on here done any riding out there?